The Yankees' Brett Gardner hits a single on June 7 against the Mariners in Seattle.

Written by

Chad Jennings
| Staff Writer

They had Curtis Granderson to play center field, Derek Jeter to hit leadoff and guys like Marcus Thames and Andruw Jones to play against lefties.

Gardner has been a streaky hitter since the minors, and when he fell into slumps, it was easy to move him to the bottom of the order or dump him into a left-field platoon. There haven't been many alternatives this season. Forced to stick with Gardner as an everyday leadoff hitter, Joe Girardi has reaped the benefits of the team's highest batting average. ...